GOSPEL MEDITATION #33

Acts 10:17-43

Peter’s Vision part 2 & Gentiles Hear the Good News

1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. From memory, determine the central points.
7. While Peter was perplexed by the vision he saw, emissaries from Cornelius arrived at the door of Simon the tanner.
8. Peter is expressly told to go with the men from Caesarea. Peter even invited these men in to stay over night. Amazing!
9. Arriving in Caesarea, 30 miles north of Joppa, Peter enters the home of Cornelius and finds a gathering of Cornelius’ relatives and close friends. Cornelius begins to “worship” Peter, but Peter “makes of himself of no reputation.” (Phil. 2:7, KJV)
10. Cornelius explains to Peter the events leading up to that moment and invites Peter to speak to them all “in the presence of God” all Peter had been commanded by the Lord.
11. Peter, a man steeped in Judaism and Jewish culture, sees that God is far more generous than he imagined to the point of caring for those who fear Him. And Cornelius, a God-fearer, desired to know more of the God of Israel.
12. Here now is a wonderfully condensed account of the Gospel ti be found in Scripture. Did Luke condense the words of Peter to the bare minimum? We cannot know the answer.
13. “God anointed Jesus”—for a Gentile this is the same as Jesus being the Christ, the Messiah for a Jew.
14. The message is “good news” because it means that sinners, including Gentiles, can be forgiven. The means of which is Jesus’ dying on the cross followed by His resurrection.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 32

Acts 10:1-16

Peter & Cornelius & Peter’s Vision, part 1

1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. From memory, determine the central points.
7. Caesarea, 30 miles NW of Joppa, given by Julius Caesar in 47 BC to Herod the Great who built it into a magnificent city; the Roman governors, (like Pilate) of Judea lived there.
8. Cornelius, a Gentile, one of the commanders of the Italian Cohort (1/6 to 1/10^th of a legion) commanded 100 soldiers. He was a God fearer; he worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
9. He prayed to God, gave alms, was well respected, and God heard his prayer.
10. At 3pm, one of the three traditional times of Jewish prayer, he has a vision. He is mindful and awake—no trance state. An angel gives him instructions—he is to send for Peter in Joppa.
11. Peter, amazingly is actually staying with Simon the tanner, against all Jewish sensibilities. Religious and cultural walls are coming down.
12. Peter, in Joppa, at noon time, another time of Jewish time of prayer, has a vision also. Again Peter is fully aware, and he sees something like a “great sheet” being lowered with animals, reptiles, and birds in it. This happens three times.
13. Peter hears a voice telling him, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat.” And Peter protests, much like the Prophet Ezekiel did per Ezekiel 4:14.
14. In both Deuteronomy 14 and Leviticus 11 is listed clean and unclean animals. As a Jewish man, Peter is not allowed to eat certain “unclean” creatures he sees in the vision.
15. Then, in the midst of Peter’s protest, God reveals to him, “What God has made clean, do not call common,” which echoes what we find in Mark 7:19. Cornelius the Gentile, is clean.

GOSPEL MEDITATION #31

The Healing of Aeneas & Dorcas Restored to Life

Acts 9:32-43

1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. From memory, determine the central points.
7. Luke’s story returns now to Peter. Likely Peter, returning to Jerusalem after he and John investigated the events surrounding Philip’s Samaritan mission, evangelized on his way home. At Lyyda, formerly Lod, NW of Jerusalem, Peter encounters a man named Aeneas, a believer, paralyzed for either 8 years or since he was 8 years old.
8. Aeneas is healed, by Jesus, and as a result “all” but meaning “many” are converted. (Consult a map to view region.)
9. Tabitha (Hebrew name) or Dorcas (Greek name) and both mean Gazelle, living in Joppa, dies. She is called a “disciple” and we note Aeneas was not so designated. (Joppa, also knows as Jaffe, is in the environs of Tel-Aviv.
10. She was prepared for burial, absent the usual anointing with oil, and her body was placed in an “upper room”—an open air but covered rooftop room, common in that period.
11. Peter is in Lydda, a 3 hour walk from Joppa. The believers in Joppa are aware of Peter’s closeness and send 2 men to ask him to come to Lydda.
12. Peter encounters “widows” and these are likely considered poor, and for which Dorcas had given gifts to, which garments they were then wearing.
13. Peter put these all “outside,” just as Jesus had done in the case of the daughter of Jairus (see Mark 5), getting on his knees (Jewish men usually prayed standing), said to the “body” “Tabitha arise.” With Jairus’ daughter’s case, Jesus said, “Talitha arise.” Talitha means young girl. We note in Mark 5 that Peter, James, and John were present then.

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 30

Acts 9:19b-31

Saul Proclaims Jesus in Synagogues & Saul Escapes from Damascus & Saul in Jerusalem

1. Find a quiet place without distractions.
2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
7. Paul is “some days” in Damascus and immediately begins presenting Jesus as Messiah and Son of God, thus showing that the Messiah, Jesus, is fully deity.
8. Paul has to flea now since the Hellenistic Jews in Damascus understood the import of Paul’s message.
9. “His disciples”—we see this in verse 25 indicating that Paul has attracted others around him. These would support him and see to his well being.
10. At this point, according to Galatians 1:11-23, Paul goes into Arabia, the ancient Nabataean kingdom, for some period of time. Luke does not present this short departure.
11. Luke now jumps to Paul’s visit to Jerusalem, also found in Gal. 1, and “attempts” to join with the disciples there.
12. The early and original disciples, with the apostles, were yet afraid of Paul. This is curious and Luke does not explain their reluctance.
13. Now Luke brings in Barnabas. He was introduced in Acts 4:36 and now we find Barnabas instrumental in making reconciliation with the church in Jerusalem and Paul. Indeed Barnabas lives up to his nickname, Son of Encouragement.
14. Paul is boldly preaching Jesus now right in the midst of those who were antagonistic to him. Again, Paul’s enemies want to kill him.
15. The “brothers” direct Paul to Caesarea and then onto his home in Tarsus. The church grows via the Holy Spirit.